Summary
You Do You has a star in Ahsen Eroglu, but Cemal Alpan’s film is a Hollywood-washed and sanitized experience from the beginning to its all too familiar end.
Here is our review of the 2023 Netflix film You Do You, which does not contain significant spoilers or plot twists.
The Turkish film, You Do You, is your classic genre film with loads of potential with its talented cast, but the story has no direction and won’t take a stance on what type of B-movie it wants to settle for.
The lead, Ahsen Eroglu, is a breath of fresh air, a star in the making, but the entire experience practically screams the cliche, “Less is more!”
You Do You Review and Plot Summary
The story follows a hippie living her bohemian rhapsody, Merve (Eroglu), who is about to get a rude awakening regarding her arrested development. With her head in the clouds of fashion and design and not using her degree in business administration, her mother, Nevra (Zuhal Olcay), informs her that their building is being foreclosed on.
That’s because she never divorced Merve’s cheating father, who foreclosed on the home. Now that the whole family is bankrupt, Merve is out to find work and has a flash of genius — a dating site, not for hooking up, but for soulmates!
Originally titled Merve Kült, You Do You was directed by Cemal Alpan (In Your Dreams) and written by Ceylan Naz Baycan, and the experience is a mixed bag of sitcom-level jokes and clichés.
The movie begins as a romantic comedy when the male antagonist, Anil (Ozan Dolunay), a bored billionaire, discovers Merve’s retro concept and then invests, moving Merve one step closer to saving her family’s home.
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However, Baycan’s script still has an identity crisis by becoming yet another young adult drama. And rom-com and YA films should be two distinctly different genres.
While you may love some of the performances, like Eroglu’s refreshing and glowing turn, Olcay’s take as a tough-as-nails feminist icon, and Türünz as the scene-stealing bestie, Nil the tone shifts and lack of conviction in its story.
For example, the scenes and jokes work against each other. Whether it’s, Merve has daydreams in the middle of the day ripped from the series Scrubs, breaking the fourth wall like in Better off Ted, or being part of an eclectic group of incompetent rich misfits like in Arrested Development, the lack of consistency makes it difficult for the script to come together.
Is the 2023 movie You Do You good or bad?
You Do You is not good or bad, but a below-average attempt at a generic YA romance film that falls short of expectations.
The stiff performance of the male lead, Ozan Dolunay, doesn’t help matters. The young actors do not have enough palpable chemistry to make their relationship interesting enough to care about.
Is the 2023 movie You Do You worth watching?
The Turkish Netflix film You Do You is worth watching only if you are a die-hard fan of the genre and like your young adult romance films that have no cultural flair or community feel.
Alpan’s film is A Hollywood-washed and sanitized experience from the beginning to its all too familiar end.
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